Critters in the Classroom

Meet Fizz! Fizz is my (very) fluffy teddy bear hamster. 

I am so excited to be a part of Erica's (from Erica Bohrer's First Grade) new blog, Critters in the Classroom! What could be better than getting to blog about teaching AND animals?! This is something that is close to my heart and I'm very excited to celebrate animals right along with teaching. Come on over and see my post about Fizz, the rescued Teddy Bear Hamster!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my Holiday Giveaway before Sunday at midnight! Enjoy your weekend!

Holiday Giveaway!!

I am so excited to announce the first give away on my blog! What a better time to jump into the world of giveaways than around the holidays?! I hope that my giveaway spreads a burst of joy to you today!

Two Lucky Winners Will Win One of the Following:

 Here's How to Enter!

1. Follow my blog and leave a comment telling me that you're a follower.

2. Mention my giveaway on your blog (with a link please! Thanks!) and leave me a comment with a link to your post.

3. Refer my blog to a friend and leave a comment telling me you did! 

Feel free to leave the best tip you have for me for my student teaching along with your comment! :)
(Please limit your entries to 3: one for each option. Thanks!)


The Last Time to Enter is Sunday, December 11th by Midnight.  


The Two Winners will be announced Monday, December 12th. 
(Winners will be decided using a random generator. The first winner will receive the Amazon gift card. The second winner will receive the TPT gift card. You will receive your goodies via email.)

Good luck!!

A Pig-ture Perfect Way to Add!

Happy Thursday Everybody! So, have you ever heard of the game, Pass the Pigs?

...I had not until Thanksgiving day, when my sister-in-law brought it over for us all to play! We had a lot of fun, BUT! my teacher brain snapped on and I immediately thought of all the fun ways this game could be played and used in the classroom, especially math!!!

If you've never heard of it, the game comes with cards, and little miniature plastic pigs. The pigs are shaped in a way that makes them land in different ways. To play the game you toss or roll the pigs like you would do with dice. You get a certain amount of points for the different ways your pigs land.  The cards that you have determine how many points each "way of landing" is worth. I've seen different variations of the game since I've looked around online, the cards we used awarded points by fives. (See below if you're a visual learner like me!)

My immediate thought was how much fun this could be to practice addition- especially as a center activity! You could even alter the cards to fit your current addition facts super easily if you needed too! The kiddos could write number sentences each time they roll, could be used to do addition with regrouping - just as with dice, the possibilities are endless!

Who wouldn't want to use a happy mini little pig in place of a dice sometimes?! :) This game can be found on Amazon for as low as $3.60!! Hmm...maybe Classroom Confetti's first giveaway will involve pass the pigs! (I'll file that away with my good idea thoughts!)

Hope you're having a great day, today!

A Special Ray of Sunshine

I am so honored that Kristin from A Teeny Tiny Teacher would nominate my new blog for the Sunshine Award! Thank you Kristin for taking your time to support us newbies!! I'm beyond grateful!

So to answer my sunshine questions, here are a few tidbits about what makes me, me!

Favorite color:  Pink pink, and pink! I'm so girly to the core. However, pink is followed closely by yellow. I always like things better with yellow, it's just so bright and cheery.

Favorite animal:  I could never decide between dogs and cats. One dog and two cats live in my house -- that would be like trying to pick a favorite child! (To the Right: Cooper, Harper, and Gizmo make an appearance on the blog!)

Favorite number:  24, I like even numbers, and my birthday is January 24th. 

Favorite drinks:  coffee, iced coffee, sweet tea, diet coke, wine (when needed) hah! :) and more coffee.

Facebook or Twitter:  Facebook all the way. My life is not interesting enough for Twitter! 

My passion: My faith, Loving people, Teaching, and my newly found blogging passion!

Giving or receiving:  Giving -- Not because I want to sound like I don't like getting gifts,  Oh my who doesn't?! I'm just one of those strange people that gets that "high" off of giving things to people! Maybe that's my love language!?...hmm :)

Favorite day:  Oh, Fridays all the way! 

Now, to nominate someone else for the Sunshine award....

I'm sure she has already been nominated, but she was my first follower and will always have a special place in my blogging heart! :)

Musical Addition Freebie!

I'm excited to give away my first freebie! I had to create a few math activities that integrated music. I did these activities with a group of first graders and we had a great time! There is a math number sentence that the kiddos use and fill in while making a musical shaker (out of a paper towel roll, beans and macaroni), there is a basic addition song (to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know it) that integrates the shaker the kids make, and there is a basic number sentence template! The number sentence template is also used with the shakers. -- Everybody grabs a partner and they each shake a certain number of beats with their shaker to make a number sentence that they record on the template. 

Hope someone can get some use out of these few things!!

Click on the picture for link to the freebie!

 Good Luck getting back to the grind tomorrow! (Only 3 weeks until Christmas break!!) :)

I'm Thankful!

I'm so extra thankful around this time of year.  A few of the blessings I'm thankful for in my life right now...

1. My life: thankful that I get to wake up and see the sunshine -or liquid sunshine :) - every morning.
2. Jesus: Wow, do I ever need major grace.
3. My family: the most fantastic support system out there (extra thankful for my mom, who always just understands. you know what I mean?) Also thankful for their health!
4. My iphone/macbook: these things keep me going! And bring lots of fun/entertainment along the way.
5. Starbucks: especially now that they have the cute Christmas cups! Just makes for a happy morning.
6. Faith: thankful for not worrying about where I will get my next meal or if I am going to have heat. The list goes on.  Blessed.
7. My pets: Cooper, Gizmo, and Phiz. Bringing life and excitement to my little home.
8. My Crock Pot: I just love this thing. How wonderful it is to come home to a already done dinner! (Also just makes my house smell like warm fall-ish time!)
9. My friends: the second most fantastic support system. So blessed by this wonderful group of people!
10. My car: it works and gets me where I need to be! - especially extra thankful for the heat seats. But ok that's verging on sounding spoiled... :)
11. Student Teaching: Oh my my am I thankful for this!! So close to being done! (also thankful for a great cooperating teacher and a wonderful group of precious children!)
12. Teaching Blogs: The best discovery I have ever made! I wish I could soak in all of the knowledge, wisdom, inspiration I see everyday! So excited to just keep learning.
13. The many little things I take for granted everyday: clothes, shoes, a working bathroom, internet, cute bags that make me smile, fall/Christmas scented candles...and the 1,000 other blessings that I do not deserve.

 

May we all live with a thankful spirit during this time of year and happily share our blessings with others! Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Up and Running and Some Snacking

Hooray for a blog makeover!! A big thank you to Alicia at Dream Like Magic Designs  for a new design that I love and is just what I wanted! (Hopefully y'all think its super cute too so you'll hop on over to Alicia's blog and shop around!)

Now that I feel my blog is officially cute, I'm excited to start posting on a regular basis. I am about a month away from starting full time student teaching and am starting to get nervous/excited/butterflies! I have been in the wonderful 2nd grade classroom that I will be student teaching in since August before school started --  so transitioning into full time teaching should be a smoother ride than if I had to start from scratch and get to know everybody! Hopefully once planning gets in gear for my time of full time student teaching I'll have many more fun ideas (inspired by my amazing cooperating teachers!) that I can begin to share with everyone! Until then...I'm going to share the one fun discovery I have made spending a few full time weeks in the classroom so far. -- This is totally not educational or instruction related, but it's after school snack related which is almost just as important! :) --

So, at the end of the day,  once every little smiling face gets sent in the right direction to head home, you're free from duty and you cross the threshold into your classroom and let out a big exhale... (at least that's what exhausted, trying to hang on, student teacher me does!) and the first thing on your mind (maybe after needing a bathroom break!) is, SNACK! Now if you're like my super self disciplined cooperating teacher, you bring your already prepped sliced apples. If you're like the rest of the teachers heading to meeting(s), you bring Oreos, Doritos, cookies, leftover Halloween candy, and anything else yummy found on the snack aisle. Well after a few days of this, I realized I better find a yummy afternoon snack option that would be a healthier/better way to meet this need and quick! So, in addition to everyone's beloved bag of popped popcorn I have stumbled upon two other great alternatives...

Yes, the Veggie Straws are Whole Food's brand, however they are cheaper than the Oreo's or Doritos!!

 
Pirate's Booty seems to be getting more popular, I am hearing lots of buzz about it among parents and friends so you should really give it a shot! The white cheddar tastes a lot like natural Cheetos's - just a whole lot better for you! (Best part is they also make it in chocolate for those of us with a sweet tooth!! Haven't tried it yet, but that will be the next!) Also, the bags are resealable, hello good snack to keep in the classroom! Now for the Veggie Straws, I wasn't sure at first and a friend recommended them, and they are actually pretty good! They taste a lot like potato chips and will definitely do the trick for an afternoon snack. These are at least my attempts at trying to eat semi-healthy during that afternoon dip. What do you snack on during this time??

Happy Snacking!! (And Happy Wednesday, two more days!!)